Camerounais Airlines (French formal name: Société Aérienne Camerounais) is a national carrier airline for Cameroon, a country in Central Africa. The company’s head office is located in the Immeuble La Rotonde in Douala, Cameroon, the nation’s largest city. The airline has a primary base at Douala International Airport (DLA), plus a smaller secondary base at Nsimalen International Airport (NSI) in Yaoundé, Cameroon, the nation’s capital and 2nd largest city.
Established in 1960 shortly after Cameroon became an independent nation, the Camerounais Airlines currently provides scheduled air service to 8 cities within Cameroun and 14 destinations around Africa along with nonstop service to Paris-CDG from Douala-DLA and Yaoundé-NSI. The carrier also operates dedicated freighters to and from several airports around central Africa. The company uses a mixed fleet of turboprop and jet aircraft to achieve its goals.
Once a 100% state owned enterprise, Camerounais Airlines has been a jointly held public-private corporation since 2005.
History
1962-1966: Early Days
Société Aérienne Camerounais (SAC), later known as Camerounais Airlines, was founded in 1960 as a state-owned enterprise, a few weeks after the Republic of Cameroon first emerged from French rule. The fledgling carrier purchased a pair of Douglas DC-4 four-engine prop aircraft in 1961 from a French broker. Both aircraft underwent extensive maintenance overhauls in France for several months before SAC took delivery of them in late 1961. By January 1962 the airline renamed itself Société Air Camerounais and began operating scheduled services within Cameroon from its hub at Douala-DLA.
In December 1962 the airline added nonstop service from Douala-DLA to Dakar-DKR and Kinshasa-FIH. In 1965 the company acquired a used Boeing 307 Stratoliner on lease from a French airline and added service to Bangui-BGF, N'Djamena-NDJ and Cotonou-COO.
1967-1979: A Period of Growth
During the 1960s and 1970s, Cameroon’s economy grew to become one of the most prosperous in Africa. Airline was run directly from the offices of the Cameroon Ministry of Transport until 1966, when the central government appointed Benoît Malimba as its 1st Chairman of Société Air Camerounais to run the airline more or less independently. A native of Cameroon, Mr Malimba had considerable prior experience as an airline executive with the recently dissolved Central Africa Airlines. He was given a generally free hand and a generous infusion of cash with which to purchase better quality aircraft to extend the airline’s route network.
He began by purchasing a set of new de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters to service smaller cities and towns across Cameroon, some of which were passenger aircraft while others were freighters. Being capable of landing at very basic airstrips, the Twin Otters quickly became a common sight across the country.
Mr Malimba also picked up an almost-new Boeing 707-320B quadjet from a French airline entering bankruptcy at the time. He used it to start nonstop scheduled air service from Douala-DLA to Paris-ORY 4 days a week and to London-LGW 3 days a week. Both routes proved to be profitable for the carrier, so a 2nd 707-320B was added to the fleet in 1969, enabling the carrier to upgrade DLA-ORY and DLA-LGW to daily scheduled service.
In 1968 SAC began to purchase several Avro HS 748 (later Hawker Siddeley HS 748) turboprop airliners, which were used to set up a 2nd base at Yaoundé-NSI and establish connections to several domestic and regional destinations across central Africa. In 1969 the airline renamed itself to Air Camerounais.
In 1970 company acquired the first of several Boeing 727-200 trijets, a new generation midrange airliner used to service several routes within Africa, while the company’s aging Douglas DC-4s were converted into dedicated freighters. This gave Air Camerounais the means to provide stronger scheduled and ad hoc cargo services to airports across central Africa, and by the late 1970s Douala-DLA had a bustling regional cargo hub carrying freight across wide swaths of the continent.
Benoît Malimba retired from Air Camerounais in 1979 to become the country’s Minister of Transport. He left public service in 1988 before passing away in late 1999 at the age of 80.
1980-1994: Struggling With Years of Recession
René N'Kono was appointed as the 2nd Chairman of Air Camerounais in 1980 by his predecessor, Minister of Transport Benoît Malimba. Never accused of being an innovator, Mr N’Kono was a rather staid though capable bureaucrat who made sure the company at least broke even, which it usually did. Mr N’Kono’s most notable contribution was renaming the carrier to Camerounais Airlines and rolling out a somewhat more modern looking “Green Tail” livery.
However, when the Cameroonian economy plunged into a long and deep recession during the mid 1980s, Mr N’Kono was caught off guard and found himself out of his depth. The airline began to rapidly burn through money as business dropped off, and Mr N’Kono battled to keep the company’s operations stable and its fleet in decent repair.
Because of rising fuel and maintenance costs, the company was forced to retire its two 707 quadjets. The airline could only find two British-leased Boeing 727-200 Advanced trijets available to replace them. The 727s had an inferior range compared to the 707, so to keep the DLA-ORY and DLA-LGW routes open the airline had no choice but to add refueling stopovers at Algiers-ALG and Tunis-TUN. The airline took significant hits to its profits and passenger traffic numbers due to this change, losing market share to French carriers still able to fly their Boeing 707s or Douglas DC-8s.
Following several years of cannibalizing some of the de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otters for parts to keep others running, the airline eventually sold off the last of them in 1987.
After receiving several cash infusions from the Cameroon government to keep the carrier afloat, in early 1988 Minister of Transport Benoît Malimba finally removed Mr N’Kono and replaced him with André Enoka, the 3rd Chairman of the company.
Unfortunately, Mr Enoka did no better, so in 1990 he too was replaced, this time by Thomas Akono, the 4th Chairman of Camerounais Airlines.
Mr Akono still had to deal with strong recessionary head winds, but he did manage to even things out a bit through labor force attrition, furloughs, and slight pay reductions, as well as targeted layoffs. The Douglas DC-4s were retired and a couple of the carrier’s Avro HS 748s were converted to freighters to replace them. With help from the Ministry of Transport, Mr Akono obtained agreements to make the routes to London-LGW and Paris-ORY into fifth freedom flights by adding scheduled stops at Barcelona-BCN and Marseille-MRS, respectively. This change brought in better results, as both destinations were popular with customers.
Mid 1990s: Post-Recession Recovery and Expansion to Europe
By 1995 Cameroon eventually began to emerge from its long recession, and the company was once again able to make some positive changes to its fleet.
Mr Akono received three more lightly used Boeing 727-200 Advanced trijets. One was used to add another fifth freedom-enabled route from Douala-DLA to Frankfurt-FRA via Rome-FCO. The end of apartheid in South Africa in 1995 opened up a new market for the airline, resulting in the other two 727s being put into service on new scheduled routes to Johannesburg-JNB and Cape Town-CPT.
1997: Boeing 747 and Expansion to New York-JFK
For many years, the government of Cameroon had sought ways to create a nonstop or direct route to New York-JFK from Douala-DLA. Unfortunately, JFK was just out of range for the old 707s to fly nonstop from central Africa. Efforts were made to set up refueling stops at either Dakar-DKR or Tenerife-TFS, but such attempts failed to come to fruition.
In 1997 the government of Cameroon managed to procure a second-hand Boeing 747-400 quadjet from a Nigerian airline that had recently gone under. The problem was, taking on the huge widebody aircraft - which required a 10,000-12,000 feet / 3048-3,658 m takeoff run and had a 400+ passenger seating capacity - brought up concerns about whether a 747 could safely operate on Douala-DLA’s slightly shorter 9,448 ft / 2880 m runway, as well as whether there was enough demand to fill the plane on a regular base. There was also the matter of the aircraft’s high operating costs, which would be three times higher than the cost to operate a 727.
The government leadership was unconcerned, and ordered the company to accept it anyway and work out how to make it work. So it was that in early July 1997, Camerounais Airlines began flying nonstop air service daily to New York-JFK from Douala-DLA.
The airline soon discovered that for the colossal airframe to take off safely from Douala-DLA, they would have to accept only passengers and their personal luggage - in other words, little to no freight could be carried onboard. Yaoundé-NSI, on the other hand, had a longer runway that would easily allow the 747 to carry both passengers and a full load of freight. In October 1997 the airline decided to split its weekly 747 schedule between DLA and NSI, running four weekly passenger-only flights on DLA-JFK, and three weekly passenger-and-cargo flights on JFK-NSI.
This arrangement worked out well, to a point. Revenue from the 747 service to/from JFK proved to be marginally profitable at best most of the time, while the 747’s high operating and maintenance costs ate heavily into whatever profits were made. Nonetheless, the government insisted on retaining the 747 for several years as a means of enhancing national prestige and visibility beyond Africa.
Privatization Debate
By 1996 discussions began within Cameroon’s central government about the possibility of spinning off Camerounais Airlines in some form.
On the one hand, the nation’s leaders to increase accountability on the part of the carrier’s management by reducing the bureaucracy surrounding its day to day operations, and hopefully make the airline become more profitable.
At the same time, the leadership also wanted to ensure the airline remained viable and stable to avoid having Cameroon be forced to rely solely on foreign carriers for commercial air service.
In short, the government leadership wanted to have some say in the airline’s long term plans, but also wanted leave its day to day management to industry professionals.
Several options were considered, namely: 1) Let the airline remain as a 100% state owned company; 2) Convert the airline into a 51%-49% jointly held public-private carrier, with the government retaining a 51% share; or 3) sell the airline off entirely to private investors, requiring that at least 51% of the airline was held by Cameroonians.
After much deliberation, by early 1999 the national leadership reached consensus on a 4th arrangement: Sell a 75% stake in the airline to private investors while retaining the other 25% stake, with the government reserving the right to resume control if the carrier faltered.
Having taken this decision, the Ministry of Transport asked Chairman Akono to retire, and replaced him with Ms Nneka “Joséphine” Yombi.
Chairwoman Joséphine Yombi
Ms Yombi, a friendly but assertive person affectionately referred to by her employees as Mama Nneka or Miss Joséphine, came to the position from a career path that had previously taken her through both industry and government at various turns. Irrepressible energy, a willingness to fearlessly overcome obstacles to her goals, maintaining high expectations of and fierce devotion to her employees, and showing no tolerance for male chauvinism were all part of her brand.
Joséphine Yombi began her career in 1968 at age 18 working as a stewardess with Société Air Camerounais, serving aboard its Boeing 707s and 727s. By age 25 she became a supervisor of cabin crews, and in 1979 she went along with Mr Malimba when he was promoted to Minister of Transport. By 1988 she became Assistant Minister of Transport for Aviation, and in 1990 she was chosen as Minister of Transport at the age of 40.
Ms Yombi left public service in 1995 to take a lucrative position as a top executive for Senegal-based Air Afrique, considered by many to be the most successful airline in all of Africa. In 1999, at the personal request of the President of Cameroon, Ms Yombi returned to Camerounais Airlines to become its 5th Chairman, charged with overseeing the company’s move towards privatization.
Transition To Privatization and Fleet Revitalization
At her request, Ms Yombi received an ample injection of cash from the central government to begin reorganizing Camerounais Airlines, with an eye towards achieving privatization by 2003. After first instituting a series of internal reforms and completing a top to bottom reorganization scheme, in 2002 she set about reinvigorating the fleet.
To begin, she leased a set of Boeing 757-200s to take over the company’s routes to Europe and repurposed the 727s to serve as dedicated freighters.
Next, the carrier purchased several Bombardier Dash-8-Q200s to service its domestic network as well as short flights within Central Africa, while several Boeing 737-700s were leased to operate on several routes across Africa. The new Q200s and 737s were also the first aircraft to wear the new current generation “Star” livery.
The company also took delivery on three leased Embraer E145s to service its routes within central Africa. However, the airline ran into logistical problems supporting the type, so it was decided to return the E145s. The last E145 was returned in early 2004, while all the remaining Avro HS 748 prop planes were shown the way out later that same year.
Due to difficulties lining up viable investors, Ms Yombi was unable to have the carrier privatized by 2003 as she had planned. After some canvassing work, she eventually found two high quality investors willing to join in: 1) the Mandou Group, a Cameroonian business conglomerate led by one of the wealthiest men in Cameroon, Charles Mandou, which took a 33% stake; and 2) Air Afrique, which took a 25% stake in Camerounais Airlines in exchange for a favorable cooperation and interlining agreements. The remaining 17% stake was soon taken up by numerous smaller shareholders, most of them Cameroonian.
On 1 January 2005, Camerounais Airlines became a joint public-private venture, with the government of Cameroon retaining a 25% stake.
2005-2020: Post-Privatization Expansion
Once Camerounais Airlines finally became a joint public-private company in early 2005, Ms Yombi embarked on a series of new efforts to refresh the airline’s fleet and expand the reach of its route network.
First, she sought approval from the new Board of Directors to sell off the airline’s Boeing 747-400 and replace it with four new, leased Boeing 767-300ERs.
There was considerable pushback from some board members, who viewed the move as reducing the prestige of the company and/or the nation. After extended discussions with the President of Cameroon, Ms Yombi managed to get the necessary approvals. The 1st two 767s that were delivered later in 2005 jointly replaced the 747, thereby bringing daily nonstop service to New York-JFK from both Douala-DLA and Yaoundé-NSI. The 747 was retired and sold off at a profit to an American cargo airline. Meanwhile, the company also took delivery of additional leased 737-700s and retired the last of its 727-200 aircraft.
In March 2006, the 3rd leased 767 arrived and was assigned to the Douala-DLA to Paris-ORY route, while a Boeing 757-200 was reassigned to fly a new route between Yaoundé-NSI and Paris-ORY. These changes significantly boosted both passenger traffic and the airline’s profitability.
The 4th and final 767 arrived in early 2007 and was assigned to serve a new route from Douala-DLA to Toronto-YYZ. The carrier also leased an almost new Boeing 757 to open new service to Brussels-BRU from DLA.
Next, in 2008 the airline introduced the Bombardier DHC-8-Q400, which were used variously in passenger or cargo operations on certain higher demand domestic and regional routes.
In 2010 the central government purchased a new Boeing 767-300ER and refurbished one of Camerounais Airlines’ Boeing 757-200, both to serve as official aircraft for the President of Cameroon and his cabinet ministers. These aircraft were flown by Cameroon Air Force pilots, while Camerounais Airlines maintained them and provided the requisite cabin crew hospitality services.
At the end of 2015, Ms Yombi retired as the Chairman of Camerounais Airlines, receiving a resounding sendoff by her employees. She spends much of her time at her beachfront home in Kribi, Cameroon, but continues to serve occasionally as a consultant to the President of Cameroon on commercial aviation matters.
Charles Zambo Era
A long time protege of Ms Yombi’s, Charles Zambo, succeeded her to become the airline’s 6th and current Chairman of Cameronais Airlines in January 2016. Other than making a few tweaks here and there, Mr Zambo mostly maintained the course set by his predecessor, Joséphine Yombi.
In 2018 Air Afrique sold off its 25% stake to Laurent Akono, an Cameroon-born serial entrepreneur who made his fortune in France.
In 2019 Mr Akono ordered several Airbus A321neos, with plans to retire the company’s outstanding Boeing 757s. Also in 2019 the airline switched its service to Paris from Paris-ORY to Paris-CDG.
The Covid-19 pandemic came to Cameroon in March 2020, having many the same negative impacts seen elsewhere. Nearly all travel ceased, forcing Camerounais Airlines to sell off all of its Boeing 767 aircraft save for the one reserved for Cameroon’s President. All routes leading out of Africa were dropped and most of the airline’s aircraft were put into storage, mainly at Bamenda-BPC.
The Chairman of major stakeholder Mandou Group, Charles Mandou, died in early 2021 from Covid-19. He was succeeded by his son Jean Mandou.
The airline’s cargo division remained active, however, delivering goods and supplies throughout Cameroon and central Africa as well as bringing in much needed medicines and later vaccines from Europe. While the Cameroonian government had to provide some funding to help sustain the airline’s work, the airline held up better than it did during the 1980s-1990s recession period.
In 2022, Camerounais Airlines ordered several of the Aria T102 Transonic and Aria V42c eVTOL combi aircraft, with plans to use them to replace the entire Bombardier Dash 8 turboprop fleet. Also in 2022 the carrier received its first Airbus A321neo, which was used to restart nonstop air service to Paris-CDG and to begin the process of retiring the fleet’s venerable Boeing 757s.
Looking Ahead
At press time, Camerounais Airlines has set forth plans to regrow its route network. This includes returning to London-LGW and Brussels-BRU, as well as possible route expansions to Brazzaville-BZV, Dubai-DXB, Harare-HRE, Marseille-MRS, Milan-MXP. At the same time the airline’s incoming Aria T102 Transonics are likely to see service on international routes across Africa generally, while the new Aria V42c eVTOL combis are to be deployed primarily in domestic air service, with the aim to add more remote towns to the route map.
Lastly, Mr Zambo is widely expected to retire at the end of 2024. Jessika Bakari, a 42 year old vice president of the airline, was recently selected by the Board of Directors to succeed him, and thus she is regularly seen shadowing Mr Zambo wherever he goes.
Destinations
Camerounais Airlines flies to the following destinations from Douala-DLA and/or Yaoundé-NSI.
Abidjan-ABJ, Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
Addis Ababa-ADD, Ethiopia
Bafoussam-BFX, Cameroon
Bamenda-BPC, Cameroon
Bangui-BGF, Central African Republic
Cotonou-COO, Benin
Dakar-DKR, Senegal
Douala-DLA, Cameroon - Primary Hub
Garoua-GOU, Cameroon
Foumban-FOM, Cameroon
Johannesburg-JNB, South Africa
Kinshasa, FIH, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Lagos-LOS, Nigeria
Libreville-LBV, Gabon
Lomé-LFW, Togo
Malabo-SSG, Equatorial Guinea
Maroua, MVR, Cameroon
Nairobi-NBO, Kenya
N'Djamena-NDJ, Chad
Ngaoundéré-NGE, Cameroon
Paris-CDG, France
Pointe-Noire-PNR, Republic of the Congo
Yaoundé-NSI, Cameroon - Secondary Hub
Route Maps from Douala-DLA and Yaoundé-NSI
Fleet
Current Fleet
The Camerounais Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft types.
Airbus A321neo - added early 2024
Boeing 737-700 - added 2002, retiring in mid-2020s
Boeing 757-200 - added 2002, retiring in 2024
Former Fleet
Camerounais Airlines previously operated the following aircraft types.
Boeing 307 Stratoliner - 1965-1967 (short term lease)
Boeing 707-320B - 1967-1987
Boeing 727-100 - 1970-2005
Boeing 727-200 - 1970-2005
Boeing 747-400 - 1997-2005
Boeing 767-300ER - 2005-2020
de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter - 1967-1987
Douglas DC-4 - 1962-1990
Embraer E145 - 2002-2004
Avro (Hawker Siddeley) HS 748 - 1968-2004
Future Fleet
Camerounais Airlines is scheduled to receive the following aircraft types in the near future.
Aria T102 Transonic - Deliveries expected to begin in late 2024
Aria V42c eVTOL Combi - Deliveries expected to begin in mid 2024
= Nota Bene =
There was no real life model that I drew on for this particular airline, either in its story or its livery design. Two real life airlines, the long since defunct Cameroon Airlines and its current day successor Camair-Co, did provide insight into Cameroon’s aviation industry. But if any airline were to be a role model for Camerounais Airlines, it would probably be Ethiopian Airlines, which still managed to survive and even thrive despite all the turmoil their country has endured over the years.
There was a real life airline named Air Afrique (1961-2002), which was IRL based in Ivory Coast and served multiple Francophone countries around western and central Africa. It was a highly reputable carrier in its time, but following a lengthy decline the industry downturn following the September 11 attacks seemed to be its death knell. I have a fictional story about Air Afrique in place, and I plan to share it in time.
The tail livery design is merely a stylized version of the country’s flag, which I think looks great on the Airbus A321 and Boeing 757, at least.
The 1960s era livery is obviously retro by design, with its cheatline and the retro-exotic looking font used for the airline brand.
The lion logo on the tail isn’t there just because lions happen to be an African thing, btw. It’s a salute to the Cameroon national football team, whose nickname is Les Lions Indomptables (The Indomitable Lions). I first heard of them when they played in the 1990 World Cup. Alongside the US team, me and some friends adopted Cameroon as our favorite underdog team, and as it happened that year they made it all the way to the quarter-finals before England beat them. I still cheer for them on to this day.
I’m not at all a fan of authoritarian dictatorships, so in writing the history of this particular airline chose to focus more on the airline and the people running it, and skip over the political backdrop. I came to know many good people from Cameroon over the course of my former work career, and they were always friendly, kind and generous folk. The various chairmen depicted tend of reflect their respective personalities, particularly Benoît Malimba and Joséphine Yombi.
All liveries depicted in this article were conceived and drawn by the Author.
Aria aircraft templates displayed in this article are fictional aircraft, whose original templates were drawn by the Author. These templates are not currently available for public purchase, but may be made available at a later date.
All other aircraft templates shown in this article are licensed from Norebbo and augmented by the Author for display. Blank side view templates of these aircraft are available for purchase through ShopNorebbo.
Route Maps were created using Great Circle Map.